Murder She Wrote Star Angela Lansbury Dies at 96
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But the British-born actress found her most enduring work in television, primarily as the intrepid detective-novelist Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, which ran for 12 seasons, starting in 1984. She was 59 when the series began, a coup considering that network executives typically courted a younger audience. It was the closest she ever came to playing herself, she said. “I didn’t want her to be a character — I wanted her to be every woman,” Lansbury explained in 2018. “I think that’s what gave her the longevity. Every woman could connect with her, and every man could. She was a strong, real woman, and men like that in women.” Lansbury was nominated 12 times for an Emmy, as outstanding lead actress in a drama series. But despite the popularity of Murder, She Wrote (over 30 million viewers watched it every week), she never took home the statue. She held another industry record, the dubious one of receiving the most Emmy nominations — 18 — without a win. Born into an upper-middle-class family in London, Lansbury credited both her father’s English heritage and her mother’s Irish one for her natural talent: “I’m eternally grateful for the Irish side of me. That’s where I got my sense of comedy and whimsy. As for the English half, that’s my reserved side. But put me onstage, and the Irish comes out. The combination makes a good mix for acting.” Entertainment Access curated AARP entertainment articles, essays, videos, films and more See more Entertainment offers > She nabbed her second Academy Award nod, for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), and with it a record for the youngest actress with two academy nominations by age 20. After her ingenue years, Lansbury, known for her work ethic, became a durable B actress, playing everything from dowagers to cultured heroines to twisted villains, always second to stars such as Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Katharine Hepburn. A third Oscar nomination came in 1962, for her performance as the calculating mother of Laurence Harvey in the cold war thriller The Manchurian Candidate. Lansbury was best known for her role as mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher on CBS' ‘Murder, She Wrote.’ CBS via Getty Images Lansbury often played characters who were older than her years. She was only three years older than Harvey, for example, and 10 years older than Elvis Presley when she played his mother in Blue Hawaii (1961). After a brief marriage to actor Richard Cromwell, at age 19, Lansbury married English actor-producer Peter Shaw, in 1949, and with him had a son, Anthony (who eventually directed 68 episodes of Murder, She Wrote), and daughter, Deirdre. (Lansbury also reared Shaw’s son, David, from a previous marriage.) The marriage lasted until Shaw’s death, in 2003. In 1966, Lansbury began her starring run on Broadway, at age 41, with the musical Mame. A biographer, Margaret Bonanno, would write that it made her a “superstar.” But after a series of personal difficulties, including the destruction of her family’s Malibu home in a brush fire, the Shaws moved to County Cork, Ireland, where, Lansbury said, their gardener had no idea who she was. “Nobody there did. I was just Mrs. Shaw, which suited me down to the ground. I had absolute anonymity in those days, which was wonderful.” AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. .) “What keeps her ageless is her immense curiosity, her exuberance for life and her tremendous gift for holding on to joy,” her Sweeney Todd costar Len Cariou said in 2012. She had a cameo in Mary Poppins Returns in 2018, at 93. “Don’t ever be ready to, quote, retire,” she said then. “Perhaps one should retire. But I’ve never had the chance! I’m always ready for anything, and I think most actors are. We never stop wanting to get out there and do it.” Alanna Nash is a contributing writer who covers celebrity and entertainment. She has written 10 books, including several on Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton. She received a Country Music Association Media Achievement Award and a Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism. MORE FROM AARP AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Restaurants offers > See more Travel Planning offers > See more Flowers & Gifts offers > See more Groceries offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS
Actress Angela Lansbury Dies at 96
The Murder She Wrote star had a career that spanned 8 decades in TV film and stage
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images Angela Lansbury’s pluck was apparent from her first role, that of the flirtatious maid in George Cukor’s Gaslight (1944). “On the first day of shooting, even though she was only 17 and had no experience, she was immediately professional,” said the director, as quoted in On Cukor. “She became this little housemaid — even her face seemed to change. Suddenly, I was watching real movie acting.” Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. The part won Lansbury, who died on Tuesday at 96 at her home in Los Angeles, her first Oscar nomination. Her career spanned eight decades and every medium, including the stage. She won four Tony Awards for best actress in a musical, for her roles in Sweeney Todd, Mame, Dear World and Gypsy, in the ‘60s and ‘70s; and one for best featured actress in a play, for Blithe Spirit, in 2009. Lansbury also sang the Oscar-winning song “Beauty and the Beast.”But the British-born actress found her most enduring work in television, primarily as the intrepid detective-novelist Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, which ran for 12 seasons, starting in 1984. She was 59 when the series began, a coup considering that network executives typically courted a younger audience. It was the closest she ever came to playing herself, she said. “I didn’t want her to be a character — I wanted her to be every woman,” Lansbury explained in 2018. “I think that’s what gave her the longevity. Every woman could connect with her, and every man could. She was a strong, real woman, and men like that in women.” Lansbury was nominated 12 times for an Emmy, as outstanding lead actress in a drama series. But despite the popularity of Murder, She Wrote (over 30 million viewers watched it every week), she never took home the statue. She held another industry record, the dubious one of receiving the most Emmy nominations — 18 — without a win. Born into an upper-middle-class family in London, Lansbury credited both her father’s English heritage and her mother’s Irish one for her natural talent: “I’m eternally grateful for the Irish side of me. That’s where I got my sense of comedy and whimsy. As for the English half, that’s my reserved side. But put me onstage, and the Irish comes out. The combination makes a good mix for acting.” Entertainment Access curated AARP entertainment articles, essays, videos, films and more See more Entertainment offers > She nabbed her second Academy Award nod, for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), and with it a record for the youngest actress with two academy nominations by age 20. After her ingenue years, Lansbury, known for her work ethic, became a durable B actress, playing everything from dowagers to cultured heroines to twisted villains, always second to stars such as Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Katharine Hepburn. A third Oscar nomination came in 1962, for her performance as the calculating mother of Laurence Harvey in the cold war thriller The Manchurian Candidate. Lansbury was best known for her role as mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher on CBS' ‘Murder, She Wrote.’ CBS via Getty Images Lansbury often played characters who were older than her years. She was only three years older than Harvey, for example, and 10 years older than Elvis Presley when she played his mother in Blue Hawaii (1961). After a brief marriage to actor Richard Cromwell, at age 19, Lansbury married English actor-producer Peter Shaw, in 1949, and with him had a son, Anthony (who eventually directed 68 episodes of Murder, She Wrote), and daughter, Deirdre. (Lansbury also reared Shaw’s son, David, from a previous marriage.) The marriage lasted until Shaw’s death, in 2003. In 1966, Lansbury began her starring run on Broadway, at age 41, with the musical Mame. A biographer, Margaret Bonanno, would write that it made her a “superstar.” But after a series of personal difficulties, including the destruction of her family’s Malibu home in a brush fire, the Shaws moved to County Cork, Ireland, where, Lansbury said, their gardener had no idea who she was. “Nobody there did. I was just Mrs. Shaw, which suited me down to the ground. I had absolute anonymity in those days, which was wonderful.” AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. .) “What keeps her ageless is her immense curiosity, her exuberance for life and her tremendous gift for holding on to joy,” her Sweeney Todd costar Len Cariou said in 2012. She had a cameo in Mary Poppins Returns in 2018, at 93. “Don’t ever be ready to, quote, retire,” she said then. “Perhaps one should retire. But I’ve never had the chance! I’m always ready for anything, and I think most actors are. We never stop wanting to get out there and do it.” Alanna Nash is a contributing writer who covers celebrity and entertainment. She has written 10 books, including several on Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton. She received a Country Music Association Media Achievement Award and a Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism. MORE FROM AARP AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Restaurants offers > See more Travel Planning offers > See more Flowers & Gifts offers > See more Groceries offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS